


Many, many years ago, there was a hero (and a robot)

by orphan_account



Series: The hero and the robot [1]
Category: Sonic the Hedgehog - All Media Types, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: Alternate Universe - Explorer Sonic and Ancient Metal, Crossover, Exploration, M/M, Metonic Ship Week, Sheikah Culture
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-17
Updated: 2017-09-17
Packaged: 2018-12-30 22:09:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,180
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12118242
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: (What the hell is this and why did I write it) (You don't need to know anything about Legend of Zelda to read this)Sonic - youngest knight in Hyrule - finds a really, really strange robot, who seems to know him. Somehow.





	Many, many years ago, there was a hero (and a robot)

**Author's Note:**

> For the ship week, with the prompt 'Nature'. Zelda crossover.  
> So, _Zora:_ tribe of fish-like people. _Sheikah:_ tribe of people who built a lot of robots. _Hyrule:_ the kingdom where everyone lives. _Sheikah slate:_ basically if you could use a phone to move large metallic objects simply by touching the screen.  
>  _Gerudo:_ another tribe, who lives in a desert named after 'em  
>  (I just really love Breath of the Wild, okay)

The first thing Sonic – youngest knight in Hyrule – did when he heard the characteristic _click_ ing noise of a robot, was to dive for cover behind a heap of rocks. Disoriented and weak the blue hedgehog had woken up in a strange tomb three weeks ago, and not soon after got it explained that he been in a coma, apparently. For a _hundred_ years. _Yikes._

-And then he got tasked with saving the kingdom, so here he was. (He still didn’t really remember much of anything) (Honestly, the incredibly loose directions allowed him to do basically anything he wanted, so.)

The _click_ ing stopped. Sonic risked a glance over the rocks, and saw that the guardian robot (bloodthirsty menaces, those ‘guardians’) was _right_ next to him. Except that it wasn’t _looking_ at him. Thank the goddess. It hadn’t noticed him, so maybe if he didn’t breathe then it would scurry away-

It moved. Sonic started counting silently… and when reaching forty-five, he was pretty sure it wasn’t going to notice him and suddenly spring into motion to off him. He risked another glance and – _yes_ – it had went towards the cluster of trees way over there. Sonic crept up from his hiding place, clutching his sword, and dashed off towards the forest…

Or he _would_ have, if he hadn’t spotted the cave. Like, of course he had seen the _mountain_ – it was the tallest thing for miles – but he had skirted around it all day without finding as much as a nook. And now there was a whole cave – no enemies in sight – and it _could_ be a horrifying trap- so obviously he ran into it.

Instantly, it was completely dark around him, and he stopped to fish out a torch from his satchel, and some flint. _There._ Now armed with a flaming torch, Sonic was a bit disappointed to see that the cave wasn’t really that big. Ancient murals flickered in the light of the torch, and a bunch of old crates and chests were stacked against a wall. Maybe they held something valuable? _Like Chaos emeralds?_

Sonic – holding the torch in one hand and his sword in the other – went forth to take a look.

It didn’t take long to open the crates when using his sword, and he discovered a rusty shield, a dozen bags of old nuts, and two beautiful gems which were not Chaos emeralds, but he could surely trade them. There was also a neat sword which was cool to the touch and glowed a light blue, and some arrows…

_Is that all?_

Sonic held up the torch, looking carefully over the cave-

-and wait, there _was_ something more. Buried partly in the ground, but still the light caught on something royal blue.

Sonic went up to it and crouched down, wishing he had a shovel- and then he remembered the Sheikah slate. The Sheikah slate, another intriguing mystery, was a slab of metal with changing pictures on it, like magic. You could also use it to summon bombs or ice or- well, it was really handy. Supposedly it had belonged to Princess Amy, but Sonic wouldn’t know – he didn’t even remember his own parents…

He got it out and sure enough – that royal blue something was made of metal. Which meant that with a few touches here and _here_ – it would drag itself out of the ground with ease, revealing itself to be-

-a metallic hedgehog replica??

_Wait what?_

And then its eyes _flickered_ , and two red ovals stared at Sonic. Who stared back, mouth slightly ajar, hands still grasping the Sheikah slate and _goddess where was his sword?_

“ _It appears,_ ” said the – well, _the robot. “That the chosen hero has returned.”_

Ah, yes. He heard that one a lot. _But not in these circumstances._ “…Yeah?”

 _“It’s been far too long.”_ It sounded almost wistful. _“But would you please release me from your Magnesis? I’d rather not hang here all day.”_

Dazedly, Sonic obeyed. The robot fell, but caught itself nimbly – its movements were eerily smooth, and it _talked_. It looked like a Mobian, and acted like one too… apart from the fact it had been stuck _underground_ for goddess knows how long. Also, it knew about the functions of his Sheikah slate… Maybe it could help Sonic? A spark of curiosity surfaced.

“ _All functions operating._ ” It seemed to stretch its arms, and then it turned to Sonic again. _“My label is Metal Sonic.”_ -that… was also very eerie. _“But I prefer Metal.”_

“Sounds good. Uh… who are you? _What_ are you?” As soon as he started asking, it all came at once. “Do I know you? How did you know-“

“ _I’m Metal, I’m a robot, in a sense, yes, you do know me, and please let me explain.”_ Sonic waved impatiently for it to continue. _“Thousands of years ago, there was a hero-“_

“Please skip to the interesting part, I know that already.”

_“-and he had a metallic companion constructed by the Sheikah tribe, since he was overcome by grief when his two Zora companions died.”_

“…What? No one has mentioned that to me!” _Everyone_ he met on the road talked about the Calamity, about that hero back then, about how he saved the kingdom and blah blah- but not _once_ had they mentioned any companions. (Was this even relevant?)

“ _The Sheikah wrote most of their songs and records about the Divine beasts and the hero.”_ You don’t say? _“My story might not have lasted, but I certainly did.”_

Wait- “You’re telling me you’re a talking robot thousands of years old?!”

“ _That was the meaning of this tale, yes.”_ It looked smug. _“Now, I must ask you… is the Calamity back?”_

“I- yes, it is. The Calamity is back. Um… will you help or what-?”

_“I’d be delighted to assist you.”_

“That’s… great.” Sonic paused, his mind still trying to absorb all the information. What in the world had he been planning to do before he spotted this cave? He had been heading toward a forest because… _because_ his map showed a shortcut going through that forest! He had been heading toward the Gerudo region; _that was it!_ “So do you have any info on the Gerudo?”

_“The Gerudo? To begin with-“_

**-X-X-X-**

_He didn’t remember._ Metal felt a twinge of disappointment – yes, he could feel, so great were the Sheikah people’s design – but it was to be expected. Reincarnation wasn’t based on facts or logic, it was merely the goddesses who let the soul of the hero return again and again. Still, this new Sonic looked exactly like _he_ had – those beautiful green eyes, royal blue fur and even the same sword and tunic. _And his voice._

This was exactly why the Sheikah shouldn’t have built robots who could _feel_ – because then there was nothing stopping them from getting _attached._

Well. A new life, albeit the same soul and the same evil; but a new _chance_. Metal had a new hero to watch over and fight beside, a new hero to fall hopelessly in love with... or maybe not hopelessly. Maybe...

**Author's Note:**

> *edit 28/2/2018 added a new tag - just check out Enigma's fic.


End file.
